Tag Archives: magnetospinning

Magnetospinning with an inexpensive magnet

The fridge magnet mentioned in the headline for a May 11, 2015  Nanowerk spotlight aricle by Michael Berger isn’t followed up until the penultimate paragraph but it is worth the wait,

“Our method for spinning of continuous micro- and nanofibers uses a permanent revolving magnet,” Alexander Tokarev, Ph.D., a Research Associate in the Nanostructured Materials Laboratory at the University of Georgia, tells Nanowerk. “This fabrication technique utilizes magnetic forces and hydrodynamic features of stretched threads to produce fine nanofibers.”

“The new method provides excellent control over the fiber diameter and is compatible with a range of polymeric materials and polymer composite materials including biopolymers,” notes Tokarev. “Our research showcases this new technique and demonstrates its advantages to the scientific community.”

Electrospinning is the most popular method to produce nanofibers in labs now. Owing to its simplicity and low costs, a magnetospinning set-up could be installed in any non-specialized laboratory for broader use of magnetospun nanofibers in different methods and technologies. The total cost of a laboratory electrospinning system is above $10,000. In contrast, no special equipment is needed for magnetospinning. It is possible to build a magnetospinning set-up, such as the University of Georgia team utilizes, by just using a $30 rotating motor and a $5 permanent magnet. [emphasis mine]

Berger’s article references a recent paper published by the team,

Magnetospinning of Nano- and Microfibers by Alexander Tokarev, Oleksandr Trotsenko, Ian M. Griffiths, Howard A. Stone, and Sergiy Minko. Advanced Materials First published: 8 May 2015Full publication history DOI: 10.1002/adma.201500374View/save citation

This paper is behind a paywall.

* The headline originally stated that a ‘fridge’ magnet was used. Researcher Alexander Tokarev kindly dropped by correct this misunderstanding on my part and the headline has been changed to read  ‘inexpensive magnet’ on May 14, 2015 at approximately 1400 hundred hours PDT.